The Art of Giving.

[KR SUBRAHMANYAM]

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I reproduce hereunder a writeup received from a good friend of mine:

The Art of Giving "Rivers do not drink their own water, nor do tree eat their own fruit, nor do rain clouds eat the grains reared by them. The wealth of the noble is used solely for the benefit of others! Even after accepting that giving is good and that one must learn to give, several questions need to be answered. The first question is: When should one give? We all know the famous incident from Mahabharat. Yudhisthir asks a beggar seeking alms to come the next day. On this, Bhim rejoices that Yudhisthir his brother, has conquered death! For he is sure that he will be around the next day to give. Yudhisthir gets the message. One does not know really whether one will be there tomorrow to give! The time to give, therefore, is now. The next question is: 'How much to give?' One recalls the famous incident from history. Rana Pratap was reeling after defeat from the Moghals. He had lost his army, he had lost his wealth, and most important, he had lost hope, his will to fight. At that time, in his darkest hour, his erstwhile minister, Bhamasha, came seeking him and placed his entire fortune at the disposal of Rana Pratap. With this, Rana Pratap raised an army and lived to fight another day. The answer to this question how much to give is: "Give as much as one can! The next question is: 'What to give?' It is not only money that can be given away. It could be a flower or even a smile. It is not how much one gives but how one gives that really matters. When you give a smile to a stranger that may be the only good thing received by him in days and weeks! "You can give anything but you must give with all your heart!" One also needs answer to this question Whom to give? Many times we avoid giving by finding fault with the person who is seeking. However, being judgmental and rejecting a person on the presumption that he may not be the most deserving, is not justified. “Give without being judgmental!" Next we have to answer: 'How to give?' Coming to the manner of giving, one has to ensure that the receiver does not feel humiliated, nor the giver feels proud by giving. In giving, follow the advice 'Let not your left hand know what your right hand gives? Charity without publicity and fanfare is the highest form of charity.' 'Give quietly!' While giving, let not the recipient feel small or humiliated. After all, what we give never really belonged to us. We come to this world with nothing and will go with nothing. The thing gifted was only with us for a temporary period. Why then take pride in giving away something which really did not belong to us? Give with grace and with a feeling of gratitude. "What should one feel after giving?" We all know the story of Eklavya. When Dronacharya asked him for his right thumb as "Guru Dakshina, he unhesitatingly cut off the thumb and gave it to Dronacharya. There is a little known sequel to this story. Eklavya was asked whether he ever regretted the act of giving away his thumb. He replied, and the reply has to be believed to be true, as it was asked to him when he was dying. His reply was "Yes! I regretted this only once in my life. It was when Pandavas were coming in to kill Dronacharya who was broken hearted on the false news of death of his son, Ashwathama, and had stopped fighting. It was then that I regretted the loss of my thumb. If the thumb was there, no one could have dared hurt my Guru? The message to us is clear. Give and never regret giving! And the last question is: ‘How much should we provide for our heirs?' Ask yourself 'are we taking away from them the gift of work? - A source of happiness? The answer is given by Warren Buffett: "Leave your kids enough to do anything, but not enough to do nothing!" I would conclude by saying: Let us learn the Art of Giving, and quoting the Saint Kabir: "When the wealth in the house increases, when water fills a boat, throw them out (for good causes) with both hands!" This is the wise thing to do!

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Truth is always like oil in water.
No matter how much water you add to depress it,
it always floats on Top...

 

[prasad1]

[h=1]Mr. KR SUBRAHMANYAM,[/h]Good post. Welcome to the forum.
Two observation:
1. Why should we give?
2. What if the oil is crude oil? sometimes it does not float.

 

[C RAVI]

Mr. KR SUBRAHMANYAM,

Good post. Welcome to the forum.
Two observation:
1. Why should we give?
2. What if the oil is crude oil? sometimes it does not float.

Answers :

1) Give, because some one need it and you can give it. Some one may need what they don't have or some one may need what they need just to feel better, though they have it on their own within them BUT got it buried due some reasons.

2) Moral messages are not crude and as such the "Oil" in the quote should be simply considered as the basic tendencies of oil that floats on water. Why to bring in crude oil in this moral message? If you want to relate crude oil and want the answer for this question, the answer can be that, the truth (crude oil) has to settle at the bottom of the water only for a better cause and only to reappear as it is, on top, after the water/emotions are drained and the truth to appear clear in its true form, with out getting dissolved with the water/emotions.

 

[prasad1]

Answers :

1) Give, because some one need it and you can give it. Some one may need what they don't have or some one may need what they need just to feel better, though they have it on their own within them BUT got it buried due some reasons.

2) Moral messages are not crude and as such the "Oil" in the quote should be simply considered as the basic tendencies of oil that floats on water. Why to bring in crude oil in this moral message? If you want to relate crude oil and want the answer for this question, the answer can be that, the truth (crude oil) has to settle at the bottom of the water only for a better cause and only to reappear as it is, on top, after the water/emotions are drained and the truth to appear clear in its true form, with out getting dissolved with the water/emotions.

Thanks I suppose.
In the original post the PostScript says:

Truth is always like oil in water.No matter how much water you add to depress it,
it always floats on Top...

I just wanted to point out that sayings needs to be modified, with the new knowledge. It was not in a moral message.
Mr. Ravi,
We may see different things, that is the nature of conversation. No need to brand as antagonistic.

 

[C RAVI]

Mr. Ravi,
....... No need to brand as antagonistic.

I have no idea as how you feel that I am branding as antagonistic??!!??

I was exchanging my views with you and conversing with you. When you could understand that we see different things and thats the nature of conversation, I couldn't understand as how what I shared amounts to branding as antagonistic?

You have your liberty, I have my liberty and every one else have their liberty to express what they feel and what's their openions are, as long as its not abusive/offending. And we all share our views with each other expecting cordial exchange in right spirit.

Let us not make wrong sense out of right things.

 

[KR SUBRAHMANYAM]

In this Forum, members are from different backgrounds, with diverse opinions/views and it is rightly so. Hence, on any given topic, opinions quite opposite to each other, would come out from the members. It should be taken in the right spirit for mutual benefit of all members. No offence to anyone please.

KR SUBRAHMANYAM
Secunderabad.